Electrically-heated culinary utensil



W. D. HUFF. ELECTRICALLY HEATE'D cuLlNAHY UTENSIL.

, APPLICATION FILED IULY 3,1919. 1,368,152.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Inl/611221: v t I yr/ygw/M W. D. HUFF.

ELECTRICALLY HEATED'CULINARY UTENSIL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY a. |919.

f 1,868,152. Patented Feb. 8,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ooo. oo j? d UNITED sfrArs''PArENr woI-rflcls.

WILLIAM DANIEL Burr, or LA FAYETTE, LOUISIANA, AssIeNoa or ONE-HALF 'roJAMES I. coNNoLLY, or aoANoxE, VIRGINIA.

ELEcraIcALLY-IIEATED CULINARY UTENSIL.

Toallwhomtmy concern:v v l y Be it known that I WILLIAM DANIEL HUFF, a,citizen of the-nited State's,'resid ing at La Fayette, lin the parish ofLafayette and lState of- Louisiana, havejinvented certain new and usefulImprovements in Electrically-Heated Culinary Utensils; andI do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as ywill enable others skilled in theart to which itappertains to make and use the same'. y

My present invention relates to improvements in electrically heatedculinary utensils, and it is intended to provide an arrangement by meansof which a minimum n amount of electricity may be used to accomplish the-desired heating result, and in which also the heat generated will bealmost entirely concentrated in a comparatively small region, thusavoidin any disa reeable heating of the surroun ing atmosp ere, andcausing inconvenience or discomfort to the attendants, as well asavoiding any unnecessary loss of heat. A

The invention is intended to be used in kitchens, pantries, or otherconvenient places Figure 1 shows three yof thevl devices mounted in a,framework, anduconstituting an electric range. v f y Fig., 2 is a frontelevation on a larger scale ofone of the devices.

Fig. 3 shows a central vertical section through the device shown in 2,buts' with the electrical connections-and .other electrical partsomitted. u

Fig..`4 ows a view of the electric switch and connections', with thetopl of the caseremoved. .cg

Fi 5 shows a section alon the line 55 of Flg. 4, and looking in thelrection of the vFigshows a section along the line 6 6 v VSpeciicuationof Letters Patent.

` Sulating piece. to whic Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application led July 3, 1919. -Serial No. 398,351.J

of Fig. 2, the parts being shown on a larger scale than inFig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the electric heating coils shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows a section along the line 8--8 of Fig. 7 and looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig.- 9 is an inverted lan view of the inthe heating coils areconnected. v

Fig. l0 is a sectional elevation showing the central connection commonto all the heating coils.

'andv the insulating material surrounding the wire; and f Fig. 13 is atop plan view of the insulating plug to which the various heating coilsare connected.

A represents any suitable framework, having suitable shelves a and a',and an angle'iron A which serves as a support for the heating retorts B,which are preferably constructed hollowed out, as at B9, in Fig. 3, andfrom this hollowed out portion the air is preferably exhausted so as tolessen .the conducting power of the walls of the chamber and retain theheat therein.

The retorts B may be made of metal, glass, or other suitable material,but preferably of flint or pyreX glass, having the walls of the vacuumchamber silvered as is well knownl inthe manufacture of thermos bottles.

The bottom of the retort is'perforated, as

-at B', to receive the insulating plug which will be hereinafterdescribed.

C represents the container lin which the article to be cooked or. to beheated is placed, and this is preferably provided with a flange .B,` andmounted above this plug` is an insulating strip E which carries theseries of heating coils.

I have shown threeof such coils F, F and,

,c having the asbestos gasket c to fit on the..

F2, but the number may be increased or decreased as desired. These coilsare preferably formed of an inclosing tube f, containing a series ofannular disks or beads f' of glass or other suitable material, throughwhich ne heating wire f2 passes, the ends of this wire f2 beingconnected to the larger wire G, which is in turn connected to theconducting strip II secured beneath the insulating piece E.

rIhis strip H is connected to the central contact I-I', which projectsdown l into a metal tube I in the insulating plu D. rIhe inner ends ofeach of the coils F, 4' and F2 are connected to a corresponding contactK, by means of the rods G', see Fig. l0, and the closed end fo of thetubes, which projects down into the tubes I' in-the insulating plug D.The lower ends of these tubes are connected by the conductors L to thethree pairs of superposed contact segments M of the switch arrangementshown in Figs. 4: and 5, which contacts are insulated from each other.

Projecting up into the tube I is the conducting post N, which carriesthe switch arm P, which arm comprises a spring member p and a contactplate p', notched as at p0 to engage one or the other of the sgingholders Q, Q', Q2 and Q3. This post I also carries the lever arm R,preferably having a portion thereof made of insulating material, as atR', and carrying an indicator fr which passes over the front of theheating chamber, and the position of said indicator shows the positionof the switch, or the number of heating units in circuit.

The current is shown as carried in by the conductor S, and is carriedoff or grounded by the conductor S', as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the current cut out entirely, the indicator 11being to the left of the markings l, 2 and 3, which corres ondto thepositions of the lock springs Q', Q2 and Q3.

In Fig. 4 I have shown one of the heating coils in circuit, the switchlever being shown in full lines, while the switch lever as indicated indotted lines shows the position of the same when the electricity is cutout, as indicated in Fig. 2.

By turning the switch lever over to the right from the position shown inFig. 4, I may cut in two or three of the heating coils, and again byswinging the lever to the left these heating coils may be cut outserz'atz'm.

The switch mechanism herein described is what is known as a snap switch,and operates as follows The central pin N has rigidly attached theretothe yoke T, with the two arms t and t', and when the switch lever isturned to the right, as in Fig. 4, the arm t will press the arm p,causing the plate p to snap out of engagement with one of the springs Q,Q', or the like. The resiliency of the arm p will cause the plate p' tosnap into engagement with the next spring Q2.

Inturning the switch lever in the reverse direction, a similar actionwill be effected by the arm Z5 of the yoke rI`he various parts of theswitch mechanism are inclosed in a box or casing W, having a bottom wmade of insulating material, which casing may be secured to the angleiron A' by means of the screws w'.

The electric circuit to the various utensils is controlled by a switchX, shown in Fig. l.

It will be noted that the gasket c'of the container C will make asubstantially airtight joint at the top of the heating chamber, thusimprisoning the heated air in said chamber, and preventing the escape ofsame should the pressure become excessive, in which-case the containerwill lift slightly, permitting the excess pressure of the air to bereleased; or the leakage of the air from the interior of the heatingchamber may prevent any possibility of excess air pressure in thesystem.

By having very fine heating wire inclosed in curved tubes, acomparatively short heating wire may be used, and yet a high temperaturemay be secured, and by having this wire contained in an inert medium,such as nitrogen, it is not likely to become burnt out.

If it 'be desired to clean the heater at any time, it will be a simplematter to lift up the insulating strip E, and the parts carried thereby,and remove the heating coils fromV the heating chamber, and the same maybe cleaned or repaired and replaced, if desired.

In the same way, the plug D may be lifted out of its socket, and alsothe switch box W may be removed by disengaging the screws w'.

It will be seen that the device may be cheaply constructed, and theparts may be made inter-changeable and duplicates substituted shouldthey become worn or injured in any Wa It will be seen that the heatingchambers are located and constructed so that they may be readilycleaned, either in place, or after being removed. A The heating elementis shown as inclosed 1n a metal tube bent in a curved or spiral form, sothat the resiliency of the tube will allow the coil to expand orcontract without injuring the apparatus.

In order to prevent oxidization of the fine wire contained in theheating coil, I preferably exhaust the air from the tubes containing theheating members and fill up the vacuum thus created with nitrogen orsome other inert gas preferably nitrogen as this may be so rea ilvsecured.

By having the ,heating wire very fine and inclosed in glass disks orbeads, and contained in a non-oxidizing medium, it is not likely to wearout or burn out, and thus the heater will last a lon time without thenecessitv for replacing t e parts.

It will be obvious that various modifications might be made in theherein described apparatus and in the construction, combination andarrangement ofl parts which could be used without departing from thespirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is v l. Apparatus of the characterdescribed, comprising a cylindrical receptacle having double side andbottom walls spaced apart, and the double bottom walls formed with acylindrical passage therethrough, the air being exhausted from the spacebetween the said double walls, an insulating plug with -electricalconductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passage in s aidbottom walls, an insulating support carried said plug at its upper end,a heating co1 carried by said support, and means for completing anelectric circuit through said conductors and through said coil,substantially as described.

2. Apparatus of the-character described, comprising a cylindricalreceptacle having double side and bottom walls spaced apart, and thedouble bottom walls formed with a cylindrical passage therethrough, thealir being exhausted from the space between the said double walls, aninsulating plug with electrical conductors carried thereby removablymounted in said passage in said bottom walls, an insulating supportcarried by said plug at its upper end, a plurality of heating coilscarried by said support, and means for completing electric circuitsserz'atz'm through said coils, substantiallv as described.

i space between the said double walls, an insulating plug withelectrical conductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passagein said bottom walls, an insulating support carried by said plug at itsupper end, a heating coil carried by said support, and means forcompleting an electric circuit through said conductors and through saidcoil, with a hollow cooking utensil adapted to project into saidreceptacle and provided with a flange adapted to lit snugly on saidannular edge and to form a removable cover for said receptacle,substantially as described.

4. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a cylindricalreceptacle having double side and bottom walls spaced apart,

ythe top of said double side walls being joined together to form anarrow rounded annular edge, and the double bottom walls formed with acylindrical passage therethrough, the air being exhausted from the spacebetween the said double walls, an insulating plug with electricalconductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passage in saidbottom walls, an insulating support carried by said plug at its upperend, a plurality of heatingv coilscarried by said support, and means forcompleting electric circuits seriatz'm through said coils, with a hollowcooking utensil adapted to project into said receptacle and providedwith a flange adapted to fit snugly on said annular edge and to form aremovable cover for said receptacle, substantially as described.

WILLIAM DANIEL HUFF.

